Judges very often recognise wider societal problems and always take the opportunity to highlight the need to address certain types of rising crime by sending out a message that such offending will not be tolerated.
Here are several cases involving serious offending including guns, knives and drugs or attacks that warranted not only custodial sentences but damning comments from the judges involved.
Such sentencing remarks help to deter future offending and serve to reassure the public that cases are being addressed with a wider understanding so both the judicial system and the police can better fight the most serious types of crime.
1. Bradley Jenkins
Pictured is Bradley Jenkins, aged 28 at the time of sentencing, of Waverley View, Sheffield, who was found guilty at Sheffield Crown Court of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life, and of two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 27 years of custody. Jenkins had been among a group, including co-accused Conner Hadi, which shot at a mother and son in two street attacks on the same day. Judge Peter Kelson told Jenkins: “We will not have gun crime on the streets of Sheffield and the law enforcement system and the courts will do what it can to send out a message to say guns are not welcome on the streets of Sheffield.” Photo: SYP
2. Conner Hadi
Pictured is Conner Hadi, aged 26 at the time of sentencing, of Toll Bar Avenue, Sheffield, who was found guilty after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition with intent to endanger life, and of two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to 27 years of custody. Hadi was with co-accused Bradley Jenkins among a group which shot at a mother and son in two street attacks on the same day. Judge Peter Kelson also told Hadi: “We will not have gun crime on the streets of Sheffield and the law enforcement system and the courts will do what it can to send out a message to say guns are not welcome on the streets of Sheffield.” Photo: SYP
3. Craig Butterley
Sheffield Crown Court heard how a judge referred to drugs and guns as "the scourge of South Yorkshire" as he jailed Sheffield drug-dealer Craig Butterley who was caught with firearms to nearly 17 years of custody. Butterley, pictured, aged 35 at the time of sentencing, of Fleury Road, near Gleadless, Sheffield, admitted possessing three guns, two counts of possessing cocaine with intent to supply, and two counts of simply possessing the class A drug cocaine. Judge Michael Slater told Butterley: "Drugs and firearms are currently the scourge of South Yorkshire. Guns are only used for limited purposes normally either to kill or to wound or to intimidate.” Butterley was sentenced to 16 years and ten months of custody. Photo: SYP
4. Jacob Carroll
Sheffield Crown Court heard during a sentencing hearing in August how 27-year-old Jacob Carroll, pictured, and 26-year-old Jordan Davies, both of no fixed abode, were both found guilty by a trial jury of murdering 18-year-old Joevester Takyi-Sarpong. Prosecuting barrister Mark McCone said the defendants had chased Joe before he was stabbed and murdered on October 31, 2021, and his body was found near to the derelict former Doncaster County Court building. Judge Jeremy Richardson QC said the defendants had ensnared Joe, and Carroll had stabbed him. He sentenced both Carroll and Davies to life imprisonment and told them they must serve a minimum of 22 years before they can be considered for release. Judge Richardson told Carroll and Davies: “It is a feature of drug dealing that those involved often carry weapons. Knives and weapons are part and parcel of drug dealing and enforcement. Consequently, when drug dealing forms an important backdrop to a murder – as in this case – it is a serious aggravating feature.” Photo: SYP